


Our Story

by Seraph_Novak



Series: Tyrus One-Shots [12]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Boyfriends, Comics, Cute, M/M, One Shot, Promposal, Romantic Fluff, Treasure Hunt, Tyrus Month 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 17:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15912789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seraph_Novak/pseuds/Seraph_Novak
Summary: Tyrus Month 2018 ~ September 6th, "Comics".





	Our Story

**Author's Note:**

> This is so sappy, dear lord... But I had a lot of fun writing it!
> 
> As always, all comments and kudos are very much appreciated ♥
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://seraph-novak.tumblr.com)

When TJ didn’t show up at the end of the day to walk him to his locker, Cyrus knew something was wrong. His boyfriend had been acting strangely all week, but he’d assumed that TJ was simply occupied with school work, and Cyrus hadn’t had the chance to ask him; he’d barely seen him since their date on Saturday.

But the fact that TJ wasn’t waiting outside his English class on a Friday afternoon like he always did was troubling. TJ never missed walking Cyrus to his locker. It was one of those traditional, couply things they’d grown accustomed to doing since they’d starting dating almost a year ago, and Cyrus always loved having the opportunity to show off his boyfriend and make the other students in the hallways jealous.

If TJ had forgotten to walk with him, then something was definitely wrong. And so, in true Cyrus fashion, he started to panic about the fate of their relationship.

 _What if he doesn’t like me anymore?_ he wondered to himself. _What if he’s grown bored of me and wants to break up?_

He shook off his thoughts and hurried to his locker, eager to get out of the building so he could run home and cry in his pyjamas while binge-watching _Sex and the City_. He couldn’t stand to even consider the possibility that TJ might not want to be with him anymore. He’d never felt this way about anybody, and he’d honestly believed that TJ returned his sentiments. But maybe he’d been kidding himself all along.

There were tears welling in his eyes by the time he reached his locker. He was in such a state that he almost didn’t notice the sheet of paper that fell to the floor when he opened it.

Casting a confused glance around the near-empty corridor, he bent down to retrieve the glossy page. The bold colours and cartoony style instantly reminded him of the comic books he used to read when he was younger, but his nostalgia was overcome with shock when he recognised the scene depicted on the page.

It was a cartoon rendition of the moment he’d first met TJ, when Buffy had convinced him to get Cyrus a chocolate chocolate chip muffin, and the details were eerily on-point. The first panel showed TJ offering to help Cyrus get the muffin for himself; the second, TJ with his hand on Cyrus’ shoulder, instructing him to simply walk up and take it; and the third, TJ smiling at Cyrus as he took his first bite of the muffin.

Beneath the drawings, in thick, slanted writing, it said: **_The moment I first met you, I knew you were special. You were dorky and awkward and friends with my nemesis, but I didn’t care. I wanted to help you, and you let me. God knows why, but you did. This is the moment it all started._**

Cyrus turned the page over with a frown, searching for some kind of explanation or clue as to why someone (presumably TJ) had slipped this into his locker. On the back of the page, in a red box with yellow writing, were instructions to go to the location portrayed in the drawing. It was like the beginning of a treasure hunt, and Cyrus couldn’t deny the excited intrigue bubbling inside of him.

Nevertheless, he approached the cafeteria with caution.

As it was the end of the day, the large room was virtually empty. There were a couple students cutting through, and a few lunch ladies cleaning up, but that was it. Cyrus stood on his tiptoes and scanned his eyes across the room, expecting to see TJ approaching from somewhere, but soon there was no one but him and one of the lunch ladies left in the cafeteria.

He was about to give up and leave when the elderly woman tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Are you Cyrus Goodman?”

“Um.” He took a step backwards. “Yes?”

The woman smiled and extended her hand, holding out another page. “Your boyfriend stopped by this morning, told me you’d be here at the end of the day. He said to give you this.”

Cyrus slowly took the page. “Did he tell you anything else?”

“Afraid not.”

And with that, he was left alone.

He flicked his eyes over the page as he walked outside, bumping his shoulder into the glass door as he went. The second page of the comic showed him and TJ on the swings: first, TJ complimenting his song, then both of them swinging together, then TJ pushing Cyrus higher than he’d ever been on the swings before. The last panel was a split drawing of TJ and Cyrus smiling at each other, and there was a tiny heart drifting above TJ’s head.

The words at the bottom said: **_You weren’t afraid of me like most people were. You saw beyond the mean jock and treated me like a normal guy. You trusted me to push you out of your comfort zone, and told me to find you if I ever wanted to talk. This is the moment I started to fall for you._**

Cyrus’ heart clenched as he read the final line, a hesitant smile ghosting his lips. Had TJ really liked him since they’d talked on the swings? It was hard to believe.

Without reading the instructions on the back, he made his way to the park. The swing set he and TJ had talked on was luckily empty, which meant he didn’t have to wait around to begin his search. He found the third page fairly quickly; it was stuck underneath the swing Cyrus had been sat on, and he instantly recognised the drawing as the moment he’d invited TJ to his bar mitzvah.

On the page, it showed TJ accepting the invitation, then the two of them smiling at each other – this time with two hearts above TJ’s head. In the bottom corner, there was a doodle of TJ loosening a bottle of Martinelli’s, then watching fondly from the crowd as Cyrus opened the bottle himself.

At the bottom, it said: **_You wanted to be friends with me, despite everything I’d done. And whenever I saw you doubting yourself, I had the urge to prove you wrong. You’re stronger than you think, Underdog. This is the moment I realised I wanted to be around you as much as possible._**

Cyrus blinked back tears as he sprinted to the building where his bar mitzvah had been held, tripping over his own feet several times and slamming into the stone steps before he had a chance to slow down. The next page was resting on the bottom step, and Cyrus’ face quivered with a watery smile as he picked it up. This one showed him and TJ sat outside the gym, when TJ had first confided in Cyrus about his math dyslexia.

The first panel was TJ staring gloomily at the vending machines with Cyrus beside him; the second, him confessing about his dyscalculia; the third, Cyrus assuring TJ there was nothing wrong with him; and the fourth, TJ thanking him for his help. The final panel was a large drawing of them eating cheese puffs and smiling together, with three hearts above TJ’s head.

The words said: **_Talking to you was easy. You didn’t make me feel weird or stupid for struggling with math, and you encouraged me to open up. You were the first person I ever really trusted to be honest with. This is the moment I knew I wanted to be a better person, for you._**

Cyrus swallowed thickly and carefully slid the page into his bag, along with the others. His legs were wobbling as he made his way back to the school – either from all the exercise, or the growing realisation that TJ had gone to all this effort for him. No one had ever done something so romantic and thoughtful for him before, and he was eager to find out what was waiting for him at the end of this treasure hunt.

In the rec room outside the gym, Cyrus found the fifth page at the bottom of the vending machine, poking outside the plastic dispenser. Cyrus grinned at the lively drawings of him and TJ at the children’s gym, surrounded by kids cheering him on as he attempted each of the obstacles with an embarrassing amount of effort.

Beneath the drawing of their chest-bump, with four hearts floating above TJ’s head, it said: **_I was determined to make you smile, no matter what. Every time we ticked something else off your list, you grew more confident, and it made me happier than I ever thought possible. This is the moment you became my primary source of happiness._**

Cyrus ran his fingers over the last word, overwhelmed with the notion that TJ was at his happiest when he was around. Did TJ really enjoy his company that much? The thought made him giddy.

He almost knocked over a trashcan in his haste to get to the gym where TJ worked. Through the glass walls, he recognised some of the regular kids. They were sat in a circle, seemingly waiting for him to show up; as soon as he walked through the door, they squealed and threw their arms around him, chanting his name and tugging on his jacket.

“Hey, guys,” he said, smiling despite the loss of his lower body. “Has TJ been here today?”

One of the older kids shouldered her way through the commotion and handed Cyrus the next page. “He told me to give you this,” she said, her shoulders proudly bunched up. “He trusted me the most ‘cause I’m the oldest!”

Cyrus ruffled her hair in thanks and said his goodbyes, then stepped outside to read the page in private. There were only two panels on this one. The first showed him, TJ and Buffy walking away from the gym after their one-on-one basketball game, and the second showed TJ looking over his shoulder with a soft smile, an abundance of hearts crowning his head.

The words splitting the two panels in half said: **_You inspired me to admit to my mistakes and start being kinder, and you made me realise that being the best isn’t always important. This is the moment I realised I was in love with you._**

Cyrus’ heart swelled, tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks and onto the page. He wiped them off before they could smudge the drawings, then made his way towards the school gym. He barely had the energy to speed-walk now. TJ had already told him he loved him before, but it never failed to make him feel weak in the knees. Plus, he could sense he was coming to the last few stops of the treasure hunt, and he didn’t want to rush.

Outside the gym, the next page was stuck to a glass door. Cyrus’ stomach fluttered as he recognised the scene depicted in the drawing: it was late in the evening, and TJ was teaching Cyrus how to play basketball on the court outside his house. In the second panel, beneath the drawing of Cyrus finally scoring a basket, it showed him jumping into TJ’s arms and kissing him for the first time. It perfectly captured the memory, and Cyrus could almost feel the tingling sensation of TJ’s mouth moving against his own.  

At the bottom of the page, it said: **_I never dreamed you might like me back, but that night, you surprised me. I still can’t believe you’re actually mine sometimes. This is the moment you became my boyfriend._**

Luckily, TJ didn’t live far from the school, so Cyrus didn’t have to race across town to find the basketball court in the drawing. When he got there, there was a single basketball sitting beneath one of the baskets, the words ‘Hey, Underdog’ written in black marker on the top. Beneath the ball, Cyrus found the next page.

The first panel showed TJ and Cyrus shyly holding hands as they walked down the street; the second, the two of them sitting in a booth at The Spoon, sharing a chocolate milkshake across the table; the third, TJ attempting to throw baby taters into Cyrus’ mouth (a lot of them ended up on the floor); and the fourth, TJ draping his scarf over Cyrus’ shoulders as they walked through the door, his lips pressed against his temple.

The words said: **_This was one of the happiest days of my life. I’d always thought first dates were supposed to be awkward and uncomfortable, but with you, I felt completely at ease. You spilled milkshake on my shoes, and you kept stealing from my plate, but I didn’t care. I was just happy to be there with you. This is the moment I knew I wanted all my future dates to be with you._**

Cyrus was on the verge of sobbing as he ran to The Spoon, his heart hammering like crazy against his ribcage. He wasn’t sure how many more these he could take before he completely lost control of his emotions.

At The Spoon, Amber was waiting for him with a knowing smile. The ninth page was dangling from her fingers, shining off the fluorescent lights spilling from inside the café. Cyrus made a grab for the page, but she snatched it away at the last second, and he felt like a petulant child as he stamped his foot impatiently.

“I like you, Cyrus,” Amber said, “but if you break my baby brother’s heart, there’ll be consequences. Got it?”

Cyrus rolled his eyes. “You know I’m insanely in love with him, right?”

Amber smiled. “Right answer.”

She handed him the page, then returned to her customers with a deliberate swish of her ponytail. Cyrus was tempted to ask her what was going on, but the drawing on the page caught his eye and knocked the breath out of his lungs before he got the chance. 

It was a single panel, bordered by miniature doodles of muffins, swing sets, and basketballs. In the middle, TJ was drawn in a dark blue suit, his hands clutching a sign flaunting the word ‘PROM?’ in capital letters. The cartoon version of himself was facing TJ, so Cyrus couldn’t read his expression. He was so caught up in the scene that it took him a moment to realise that their surroundings looked a lot like his backyard...

Beneath the drawing, it simply said: **_This is the moment I ask you to go to the prom with me. What do you say?_**

Cyrus blinked at the page for a few moments, his mind slowly catching up with the situation. He’d been standing there, stock-still, for almost five minutes solid when a passing car snapped him out of his trance, and Cyrus suddenly realised what was going on. According to the rules of the treasure hunt, his next stop was his own backyard, where TJ would be waiting for him in a dark blue suit, ready to ask him a question. And all Cyrus had to do was show up and give him an answer. 

He slipped the page into his bag and ran – a leg-pumping, sweat-inducing kind of run – all the way home. His face was aching from smiling so much by the time he got there, and he was so distracted by the prospect of seeing TJ that he almost missed his mom and Todd sitting in the kitchen.

“Hey, there,” his mom said, her eyes twinkling. “You look a little out of puff.”

Cyrus bent over and grabbed his knees as he struggled to catch his breath again. “I ran here.”

Todd chuckled. “Does this have anything to do with TJ standing in our backyard?”

“He’s really here?”

“Yep.” His mom smiled. “He’s been waiting for you.”

Cyrus licked his lips and grinned. “Is he wearing a blue suit? Does he have a sign? Does he look adorable? I mean, he always looks adorable, but –”

“Why don’t you go see for yourself?”

He glanced down at his shirt, now freshly damp with sweat, and ran a hand through his hair. “But I look terrible!”

“You look fine, sweetie.”

“But –”

“That boy has been pacing up and down our backyard for an hour,” Todd said, resting a fatherly hand on Cyrus’ shoulder. “He’s even more nervous than you are, okay? You have nothing to worry about.”

Cyrus took a deep breath. “I really love him, you know?”

His mom pinched his cheek with a smile. “I know.”

“He’s great, isn’t it?”

“He is.”

Cyrus pulled at his collar. “I know I’m stalling, I just... This is a pretty big deal. I don’t think there’s ever been an openly gay couple at our prom before.”

“I’m proud of you,” his mom said, giving him a quick hug before ushering him outside. “Now go make history!”

Cyrus smoothed down his outfit, gave his armpits a sniff, then walked through the back door. TJ was at the opposite end of the yard, his back turned to Cyrus. He was staring at his shoes and talking to himself, presumably rehearsing what he was going to say. It was probably the cutest thing Cyrus had ever seen.

“Hey,” he said, his voice breaking slightly.

TJ jumped and turned around. “Cyrus, hey! You’re here.”

“Yep.”

“Did you find all the pages?”

Cyrus took them out of his bag (neatly stacked in order) and lifted them up for TJ to see. “It took me a while, but yeah.” He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it didn’t stop his words from sounding gargled. “I can’t believe you did all of this.”

“Well, Walker helped me with the drawings,” TJ said, self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck, “but the rest was me. I know it’s kinda sappy, but –”

“It’s perfect.” Cyrus held the pages against his heart. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

TJ smiled softly as he made his way across the yard, his hand reaching out to thread their fingers together. “I know you’re a sucker for romance, so I wanted to make it special.”

“You really went all out.”

“Yeah.” TJ laughed. “Was it too much?”

“I loved it,” Cyrus said, squeezing TJ’s hand. “I’m just glad you’re not bored with me.”

“What do you mean?”

Cyrus shrugged. “I thought you’d been avoiding me all week because you didn’t like me anymore.” He ducked his head with a sniff. “I guess I was just being paranoid... But when I didn’t see you after class today, I didn’t know what to think.”

TJ placed a finger beneath his chin and tilted his head upwards. “Did you think I was breaking up with you?”

“Maybe.”

“Cyrus, I –”

“It’s not your fault.” He straightened TJ’s tie and smiled. “You were trying to do something romantic, and I jumped to conclusions. I just find it hard to believe you actually like me sometimes.”

TJ shook his head. “Are you serious? I’m the lucky one here.”

“I think we’re both pretty lucky.”

“That’s true.” TJ cupped his cheek. In the rising twilight, his eyes were a hazy shade of grey, and he’d never looked more handsome. “So, about the prom.” He waved the sign above his head. “What do you say, Underdog?”

Cyrus wiped away his tears and smiled. “I would love to go to the prom with you, TJ.”

He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and kissed him sweetly beneath the stars, his heart hitching at the first touch of TJ’s lips against his own. The sign dropped on the grass beside them, long forgotten, and Cyrus giggled as TJ lifted him up off the ground.

“Careful with the pages!” he said between gasps of laughter. “You’re gonna crush them!”

TJ kissed him on the cheek, then lowered him back down. “Walker said he’ll make us a binder to keep them safe. We can look back on them when we’re grey and old, and remember how much of a sap I used to be.”

“You’ll always be a sap,” Cyrus said fondly. “But I love you for it.”

TJ touched the small of his back and brought him closer, their foreheads falling softly against each other. “I love you too, Underdog.”

They stood like that for what felt like hours, swaying together in the middle of Cyrus’ backyard, the cooling air raising goosebumps on their skin. The smell of Todd’s cooking drifted through the gap of the open door, and the sound of dogs barking to each other across the neighbourhood filled the silence between them. It was a perfectly normal day, but the world suddenly felt different, like it was full of opportunities Cyrus hadn’t even considered before now.

“You know,” he said, his words muffled against TJ’s chest, “if this is how much effort you put into a promposal, I’m expecting one heck of a marriage proposal... You better start planning.”

As soon as he said it, his cheeks prickled with heat. He was about to play it off as a joke before things got awkward, but TJ’s gentle smile took him by surprise. He didn’t look horrified at the idea of marrying Cyrus someday. If anything, he looked relieved, as if he’d been waiting for Cyrus to say what he’d already been thinking.

“Don’t worry,” TJ said, kissing the blush on the tip of Cyrus’ nose, “I’ve already started.”


End file.
